IT’S RARE ENOUGHT TO BE ON THE FOREFRONT OF A MUSICAL MOVEMENT, BUT KEYBOARDIST JAN HAMMER HAS BEEN THE POINT GUARD FOR TWO OF THE MOST IMPORTANT BANDS IN FUSION, WHICH WAS ORIGINALLY CALLED ‘JAZZ-ROCK’ BACK IN THE FLEDLING DAYS.…
Category: Interviews
KAIT DUNTON AND THE POWER OF THREE
SOME ARTISTS, LIKE STAN GETZ OR BILL EVANS, DEFINE THEMSELVES BY THEIR OWN PERSONAL SOUNDS. OTHERS, SUCH AS DUKE ELLINGTON, PREFER TO BE IDENTIFIED WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF THE BANDS THAT THEY LEAD. KEYBOARDIST KAIT DUNTON’S MUSICAL GOAL IS NOT…
JORGE SANTANA: MALO ES BUENO!
RECENTLY, OMNIVORE RECORDS HAS REISSUED A COLLECTION OF ALBUMS FEATURING THE CAREER OF GUITARIST JORGE SANTANA. BROTHER OF CARLOS SANTANA, JORGE HIMSELF HAS CARVED OUT AN IMPRESSIVE CAREER AS ON OF THE FOUNDING MEMBERS OF THE LATIN JAZZ-ROCK GROUP MALO,…
LENI STERN: SOUNDS FROM DISTANT LANDS
YOU WOULD THINK THAT BEING MARRIED TO FAMED GUITARIST MICHAEL STERN WOULD BE AN INTIMIDATING FACTOR FOR GUITARIST LENI STERN. BUT, THE FORMIDABLE WOMAN HAS CARVED OUT HER OWN PERSONAL AND MUSICAL NICHE, AND HAS BECOME ONE OF THE LEADERS…
VINCE WILBURN JR.: UNCLE MILES AND THE ELECTRIC COMEBACK
ONE OF THE WATERSHED EVENTS OF THE 1980s WAS THE RETURN OF MILES DAVIS AFTER A PROLONGED HIATUS. ONE OF THE PEOPLE WHO WAS PRESENT DURING THIS HISTORIC EVENT WAS HIS NEPHEW, DRUMMER AND PRODUCER VINCE WILBURN JUNIOR. WHILE TAKING…
AZAR LAWRENCE’S ELEMENTALS
HOW DOES ONE CARRY ON THE TORCH OF A MUSICAL GIANT? FOR AZAR LAWRENCE, IT’S NOT A MATTER OF PLAYING THE MUSIC OF JOHN COLTRANE AS MUCH AS EMBRACING HIS MUSICAL WORLD VISION. HIS TENOR SOUND ROARS LIKE A LION,…
DAVID MCMURRAY: MUSIC IS LIFE!
IT’S RARE THAT A VETERAN SIDEMAN MAKES SUCH A SPLASH ON WHAT IS ESSENTIALLY A DEBUT ALBUM. SURE, SAXIST DAVID MCMURRAY HAS RELEASED A FEW ALBUMS IN THE PAST, BUT HE IS BEST KNOWN FOR IS ASSOCIATION WITH FAMED PRODUCER…
DON BRADEN: A MAN OF EARTH, WIND AND WONDER
WHEN YOU HEAR OF AN ARTIST PLAYING “THE STANDARDS” WHAT COMES TO YOUR MIND? RIGHT. SOMETHING BY GERSHWIN, PORTER OR BERLIN. BUT AT ONE TIME, ALL OF THOSE SONGS WERE CONTEMPORARY PIECES. SO, ASKS DON BRADEN, DOES A STANDARD HAVE…
NINO TEMPO: SWING, THE WALL OF SOUND AND THE WRECKING CREW
THE LIFE OF A JAZZ MUSICIAN, EVEN IN THE BEST OF TIMES, IS TENUOUS AT BEST. NINO TEMPO, GIFTED WITH A GOLDEN TONE ON THE TENOR SAX, HAD AN IMPRESSIVE START OF A CAREER WITH MAYNARD FERGUSON’S HOT AND TORRID…
DENNIS COFFEE-FUNK BROTHER AND JAZZ JEWEL
UNLESS YOU’VE LIVED IN A HOLE THE PAST 50 YEARS, WHILE YOU MAY NOT HAVE HEARD DENNIS COFFEY’S NAME, YOU’VE GROWN UP WITH HIS PLAYING SKILLS. ONE OF THE GUITARISTS FOR THE FAMED MOTOWN-LABELED FUNK BROTHERS, COFFEY’S STRINGS AND PEDALS…